Men's Basketball

Owens Selected as Candidate for Senior CLASS Award

Jan 04, 2018

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Oral Roberts senior center Albert Owens was one of 30 men's basketball student-athletes who was selected as a candidate for the 2017-18 Senior CLASS Award® for his excellence on and off the court, it was announced Thursday. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. The complete list of candidates follows this release. ORU is one of two schools (ORU and Duke) who had both a men's and women's candidate selected.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

Owens graduated in three years with his bachelor's degree in history, earning Most Outstanding History Senior Paper, Most Outstanding History Major and Overall Outstanding Student for the history, humanities government, international community development, liberal arts studies and social studies majors. He served as an intern for Congressman Jim Bridenstine while working on his undergraduate work. On the court, he is fifth in ORU history with 133 career blocks, and scored his 1,000th career point earlier this season. He is currently at 1,146 career points and 470 career rebounds, trying to become just the 16th player in ORU history to reach 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.

Each of the 30 candidate classes will be narrowed to fields of 10 finalists in February, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one male candidate and one female candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.

The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2018 NCAA Men's Final Four® and NCAA Women's Final Four® this spring. For more information on each of the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award honors the attributes of senior student-athletes in four areas: community, classroom, character and competition. The award program is designed exclusively for college seniors who are utilizing their complete athletic eligibility, remaining committed to their university and pursuing the many rewards a senior season can bring. Premier Sports Management manages the award.

*NCAA and Final Four are trademarks owned or licensed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.